Dead Men Walking

Did The Walking Dead Just Introduce a Game-Changing New Villain?

This post contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 7, Episode 8, “Hearts Still Beating.”

Another year, another gruesome closer from The Walking Dead. Sunday’s midseason finale was a bloody return to form, as both Spencer and Olivia bit the dust and Negan took Alexandria’s resident bullet-maker, Eugene, along with him. But in the 90-minute episode, two very brief moments might have meant the most: Did the series just introduce a new villain? And if so, who could it be?

Remember when Rick and Aaron successfully row, row, rowed their boat frantically across a zombie-infested lake and merrily, merrily, merrily loaded up the truck with supplies? Did you happen to notice the quick shot of someone’s boots from across the lake, watching them? And then there was the post-credits scene, in which someone with binoculars was standing just outside Alexandria’s walls, peering in on them. Whether it’s a friend or foe is unclear, but in the Walking Dead universe, “foe” always seems to be the safer bet.

So, who could it be? Maybe it’s a Savior keeping tabs, or Cindy from Oceanside, or a scout from Hilltop or the Kingdom. Or, the series might be ramping up to introduce a new group—one that’s kind of a big deal in the comics. (Comics spoilers ahead.)

In the Walking Dead comics, the Whisperers are survivors who disguise themselves by wearing zombie flesh. Yum. (It’s kind of like the next level of Rick’s blood-soaked poncho trick.) The Whisperers, and their leader, Alpha, are what cause Negan and Rick to try their hand at teaming up, so it doesn‘t seem super likely that they’ll show their (masked) faces anytime soon—but they could be sowing the seeds of suspense, like they did with Negan in Season 6.

When asked who that mysterious figure was on Sunday’s Talking Dead, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkmansaid, “I really wish I could tell you. All I can say is that those boots, you’ll definitely recognize those from earlier—they’re connected to that boat scene—and you know, that’s a big part of what we’re dealing with when we come back next half of the season, so we’ll be revealing that soon. It’s going to be a great half season.”

So, as usual, Kirkman kept it vague. But, clearly, whoever it is will have a big part to play very soon—whether that’s teasing the new villains to come, or shifting the dynamic in the war against Negan. Guess we’ll find out in a few months.

Sam Anderson

Sam was a simple-natured boy with a love-hate relationship for Carol (and her cookies) and ended up being one of the biggest burdens in Alexandria, wreaking havoc on Rick and his crew as they maneuvered themselves through a seemingly endless horde of zombies. We can’t blame him for being haunted by Carol’s goose-bump-raising quote about being eaten alive by monsters, which ultimately led to his, Jessie’s, and Ron’s death. Then again, who really thought his fate would fare for the better when the mid-season finale ended with him wailing “Mom?” in a sea of zombies?

Photo: Courtesy of AMC.

Mika and Lizzie Samuels

Mika and Lizzie made for a fascinating pair in Season 4, representing two very different reactions to being born in a time of an every-man-for-himself type of world. Lizzie became convinced the dead could be saved and obsessively glorified their zombification; Mika, on the other hand, accepted the fact that zombies were no longer human. Lizzie became even more delusional and killed Mika to “save” her by turning her into a walker, leading to the saddest scene of the season, where Carol shoots Lizzie as she repeats, “Just look at the flowers.”

Photo: Courtesy of AMC.

Carl Grimes

Carl losing his eye in the recent mid-season premiere was an expected blow for comic-book fans but a heartrending loss nonetheless, especially since this is the second time he’s been on the brink of death
since being accidentally shot by a deer hunter near Hershel’s farm. Perhaps Glenn’s unbreakable survival skills are rubbing off on him? Immortal Carl, we root for you.

Photo: Courtesy of AMC.

Sophia Peletier

Sophia reached her end in Season 2 when she’s discovered as a walker in a barn on Hershel’s farm after getting lost from the rest of the group. While many were rooting for her safe return, even Carol refused to accept Sophia’s walker form, saying, “That’s not my little girl. It’s some other . . . thing. My Sophia was lost in the woods. All this time, I thought. But she didn’t go hungry. She didn’t cry herself to sleep. She didn’t try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago.”

Photo: Courtesy of AMC.

Enid

From the start of the season, Enid seems to be the most displaced Alexandrian, often escaping Alexandria as she normalizes the outskirts of the zombie-filled forest more than the safe bubble removed from the dead. She loses her parents from the start and guards herself from warming up to people in fear of losing them. She also has to eat a turtle after losing Mom and Dad. Need we say more?

Photo: Courtesy of AMC.

Beth Greene

Beth was one of the more polarizing characters on The Walking Dead and her unexpected death at the hands Officer Dawn hit us all harder than we could’ve imagined, since she gradually became the more stronger-willed and good-natured sources of joy within Rick’s group. Though she was more of a tween than a child when she appeared in Season 2, it would be remiss not to include the youngest one of Rick’s group, who unfortunately witnessed the death of her mother, brother, and father, Hershel, and ends up risking her own life by standing up to Officer Dawn to save her friend Noah.

Photo: Courtesy of AMC.

Maggie and Glenn’s soon-to-be child

Like Judith, little is known about the future for Maggie and Glenn’s child, but it seems safe to assume Maggie’s not necessarily expecting rainbows and butterflies in her baby’s future.

Photo: Courtesy of AMC.

Sam Anderson

Sam was a simple-natured boy with a love-hate relationship for Carol (and her cookies) and ended up being one of the biggest burdens in Alexandria, wreaking havoc on Rick and his crew as they maneuvered themselves through a seemingly endless horde of zombies. We can’t blame him for being haunted by Carol’s goose-bump-raising quote about being eaten alive by monsters, which ultimately led to his, Jessie’s, and Ron’s death. Then again, who really thought his fate would fare for the better when the mid-season finale ended with him wailing “Mom?” in a sea of zombies?

Courtesy of AMC.

Mika and Lizzie Samuels

Mika and Lizzie made for a fascinating pair in Season 4, representing two very different reactions to being born in a time of an every-man-for-himself type of world. Lizzie became convinced the dead could be saved and obsessively glorified their zombification; Mika, on the other hand, accepted the fact that zombies were no longer human. Lizzie became even more delusional and killed Mika to “save” her by turning her into a walker, leading to the saddest scene of the season, where Carol shoots Lizzie as she repeats, “Just look at the flowers.”

Courtesy of AMC.

Carl Grimes

Carl losing his eye in the recent mid-season premiere was an expected blow for comic-book fans but a heartrending loss nonetheless, especially since this is the second time he’s been on the brink of death
since being accidentally shot by a deer hunter near Hershel’s farm. Perhaps Glenn’s unbreakable survival skills are rubbing off on him? Immortal Carl, we root for you.

Courtesy of AMC.

Sophia Peletier

Sophia reached her end in Season 2 when she’s discovered as a walker in a barn on Hershel’s farm after getting lost from the rest of the group. While many were rooting for her safe return, even Carol refused to accept Sophia’s walker form, saying, “That’s not my little girl. It’s some other . . . thing. My Sophia was lost in the woods. All this time, I thought. But she didn’t go hungry. She didn’t cry herself to sleep. She didn’t try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago.”

Courtesy of AMC.

Penny Blake

Penny died long ago but was kept and fed as her reanimated self by the Governor, who was convinced there was an ounce of her that still lived. We only include her because, man oh man, this is some sick and twisted father-daughter bonding.

Courtesy of AMC.

Ron Anderson

Ron was the moodier sibling of the Anderson bunch (the Urban Outfitters beanie spoke volumes) with just about 1,800 licenses to kill after witnessing the death of his entire family at the hands of Rick, Carl, and some zombies. Although Carl forgave Ron for attempting to kill him in an earlier episode for the death of his father, Ron struck immediately when Rick cut off his mother’s arm to free Carl from the crowd of walkers, and he attempted to shoot Rick but ended up shooting Carl in the face. Attempt to kill me once, shame on you. Twice? No, thank you.

Courtesy of AMC.

Summer

Although Summer’s relatively a nobody in comparison to all of the other T.W.D. children since she appears for a brief moment in Season 1, she’s the first walker Rick encounters and one of the strangest-behaving walkers at that. Summer picks up a teddy bear, as if she has not been reanimated, fooling Rick into thinking she’s a human. Zombie children: they like teddy bears, too.

Courtesy of AMC.

Judith Grimes

Lori lost her life giving birth to Judith, a.k.a. the worst way to come into this world. Though we don’t know the exact plans that come for Judith in the near future, we do know that she might just be the best-behaving baby of all time (what kind of baby doesn’t utter a single peep under a sheet of walker guts?). Fingers crossed for you, Judith.

Courtesy of AMC.

Enid

From the start of the season, Enid seems to be the most displaced Alexandrian, often escaping Alexandria as she normalizes the outskirts of the zombie-filled forest more than the safe bubble removed from the dead. She loses her parents from the start and guards herself from warming up to people in fear of losing them. She also has to eat a turtle after losing Mom and Dad. Need we say more?

Courtesy of AMC.

Beth Greene

Beth was one of the more polarizing characters on The Walking Dead and her unexpected death at the hands Officer Dawn hit us all harder than we could’ve imagined, since she gradually became the more stronger-willed and good-natured sources of joy within Rick’s group. Though she was more of a tween than a child when she appeared in Season 2, it would be remiss not to include the youngest one of Rick’s group, who unfortunately witnessed the death of her mother, brother, and father, Hershel, and ends up risking her own life by standing up to Officer Dawn to save her friend Noah.

Courtesy of AMC.

Maggie and Glenn’s soon-to-be child

Like Judith, little is known about the future for Maggie and Glenn’s child, but it seems safe to assume Maggie’s not necessarily expecting rainbows and butterflies in her baby’s future.